(INDIANAPOLIS)(AP) - Indiana lawmakers have approved a plan for phasing out the state's inheritance tax.

The plan adopted Friday will decrease the state's inheritance tax in stages beginning next year until it is eliminated after 2021. The plan also more than doubles the current inheritance tax exemption for children and grandchildren to $250,000 starting this year.

Republican Rep. Eric Turner of Cicero said that some families would begin to see the benefit immediately. Opponents said that the state could better use the money it was losing elsewhere.

The tax now brings in about $160 million a year to the state.

House lawmakers approved the compromise 78-17 and the Senate voted unanimously in favor of the plan. The bill now goes to Gov. Mitch Daniels for his consideration.